Kiir sacks central bank chief, names replacement

JUBA – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Monday night dismissed – in a decree – the governor of the country’s central bank, Dier Tong Ngor.

In a separate decree which was also read out on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) named Moses Makur Deng as the new Governor of the Bank of South Sudan.

Moses Makur was – until his appointment as central bank chief on Monday – working as the director general for bank supervision, research and statistics at the central bank.

No reason was given by the South Sudanese head of state as to why he dismissed Ngor, but he has been making reforms as part of the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018.

In separate decree, Kiir also fired the First Undersecretary for Finance and Planning Ochum Genes Karlo, and replaced him with Simon Ladu.

In yet another decree, Kiir named Ochum as the new undersecretary for the ministry of trade and industry.

Under Tong’s leadership, the bank introduced wide-ranging reforms to the financial markets last April, including a requirement that commercial banks quote a single foreign exchange rate to limit market distortions.